First Minister Nicola Sturgeon with Deputy First Minister John Swinney outside Bute House (Image: Press Association)

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NOW that the SNP Government have received ­Holyrood approval for their new Cabinet, it is time to settle down to the real ­business of running Scotland.

The biggest challenge that the third-term SNP administration face is the mismatch between the mass support received to displace Labour as the true anti-austerity party in Scotland, against their record of willingness to accept Westminster Tory austerity measures by passing on their cuts to Scottish public services and public sector workers.

With major powers over taxation and welfare devolved to Scotland, it is also time for money to be put where the metaphorical mouth has been for some time.

The disfiguring impact of cuts across our communities are on display for all to see, none more so than in local services.

That Glasgow City Council are refusing to even talk with Unison about Justice for Jannies, is a mirror of the handwringing of ministers over three years when PCS members held up a dispute at the National Museum of Scotland over two-tier weekend work payments.

It was only through the threat of six weeks of strike action closing the museum every weekend from Easter to the election did ministers finally cough up to right a wrong. I hope the jannies of Glasgow don’t have to wait that long.

Across the UK, PCS are resisting the Tory dismantling of civil and public services, from ­privatisation of the Land Registry, HMRC office closures and the closure of BIS in Sheffield, in the heart of the “Northern Powerhouse”.

Our members in the ­Scottish Government sector will resist attempts to pass down Tory cuts to services, outsource or water down welfare delivery, or continue with damaging pay restraint on Scottish public sector workers.

The reality is, the self-harm of the Scottish Government’s cuts are endured behind closed doors by a workforce who have seen a 20 per cent fall in staffing levels, a spiralling increase in workloads, particularly as powers become devolved to Scotland, and a decade of pay restraint now a scourge of our members.

PCS have been in dispute with both Scottish and UK governments over the imposition of pay freezes and pay caps, which have left members worse off than they were 10 years ago.

Scottish Government workers tell us how they now make ends meet by avoiding nights out and giving birthday gifts to save money, cancelling pet ­insurance, giving up holidays, gym membership, broadband contracts and shopping for the cheapest food.

We have evidence of reliance on payday loans and foodbanks among white-collar civil ­servants. This is the reality behind sustained real-terms pay decline. It doesn’t have to be like that.

Since 2007, I have corresponded with former finance secretary John Swinney on the merits of utilising the powers in the 1997 Scotland Act to move the public sector workforce away from Westminster pay policy.

My “Dear John” letters were not isolated woe and heartbreak. They were led by the industrial and ­political pressure of our Scottish Government sector members to demand better of Scottish ministers, pay policy than Osborne’s pay cap.

Of course, through that political and industrial pressure, PCS ­Scottish Government sector members won a no compulsory redundancy guarantee from 2008-2016 and a Scottish living wage too.

These were demands that PCS placed on ministers but are not enough to turn around a pay policy that punishes people for staying in the Scottish public sector.

Until the core pay policy heads down a Scottish road that ­recognises and rewards staff for their loyalty and commitment, we will remain in dispute with Scottish ministers, alongside our UK sisters and brothers, fighting pay austerity against the UK Government.

My final “Dear John…” letter was penned on May 18, as Swinney moved to education. That day, I sent my first “Dear Derek” to his successor, Derek Mackay.

To the Finance Secretary, I say, your challenge is enormous. The cadre of civil and public servants under your command are hard working, loyal and committed to delivering your priorities.

They need to be rewarded with respect and remuneration to ­recognise that commitment.

PCS stand ready to work with ministers to enhance a framework of industrial engagement as an exemplar in fair work.

Against the Tory Anti-Union Act, the Scottish Government can show a very different approach to ­industrial relations at the heart of government through co-operation with our union.

However, unless we can lift our members out of the pay austerity of the Tory right, there can be nofair work environment with a workforce struggling to make ends meet.

Austerity is a political choice, and this as a pivotal moment for those in whom so many Scots have placed their faith.